You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

4th of July Win and Nothing But Angels Fireworks Ever Since

Mariano Rivera gracefully bows out of the All-Star Game due to injury and fire balling rookie closer Jordan Walden is named to the AL team in Rivera’s place, joining his equally deserving teammates Jered Weaver and Howie Kendrick. Yay! Peter Bourjos injures his hamstring. Oh no!! (Ouch! It didn’t look season ending or anything but it sure looked painful.) And Angels #1 prospect, 19-year old Mike Trout gets called up from AA to take Bourjos’ place for a few days. Yay!?! The Angels were only a game out of first. Yay! The Angels were tied for first. Yay!!! The Angels are a game out of first again. Eh. Wow, get busy and take a few days away from blogging and the whole world changes!

Well, as excited as I am about Trout debuting – and I wish him one heck of a great game tonight! – I understand this is a temporary move until Bourjos is back on his wing-shoed feet and I think that’s probably for the best, unless he just takes off on a tear that is. Trout is 19, after all, and the outfield is really clicking the way it is. So while we wait for this excitement to unfold in a few moments, I’m going to wade back into blogging – after four days off, the horror! ;) – by posting my photos from the 4th of July game against the Tigers.

Yes, I went to the ballgame again. *big, huge grin* As I mentioned a few posts ago, I am in the middle of a borderline embarrassment of baseball riches in terms of game tickets right now. We have tickets to tomorrow’s game and Dierks Bentley concert. And, no, Dierks is not the only one that wants to have some fun tonight…er…tomorrow night. And then, next weekend we will enjoy our Bay Area baseball extravaganza. Crazy fun!

Catcher Jeff Mathis and the evening’s starter Joel Pineiro warm up in left field right in front of our seats. I am developing a wallet healthy love for the first row of the upper deck but nothing beats field seats, in my opinion, when you can find someone willing to part with them cheaply. This 4th of July, the stadium was packed, almost as packed as during the Freeway Series earlier in the weekend, and the fans were fantastic. We happened to be sitting near a lot of Tigers fans, all of them pretty cool. Most were on vacation but the couple in our row just moved to Southern California last week. Their new diehard Angels fan neighbor brought them to the game to welcome them to California and give them a taste of home at the same time. All three individuals were really, really nice and I adore their story. Now that’s being neighborly:

Catcher Jeff Mathis and starting pitcher Joel Pineiro warm up in left field before the game as the flag bearers move into position. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Ah the dreaded, and ever hilarious rookie reliever backpacks! We caught the Tigers heading toward the pen at the beginning of the game but couldn’t get a good shot of the Angels rookies until after the game. Apparently the Tigers prefer pink Hello Kitty for their small dose of rookie humiliation while they Angels go for the slightly more dignified blue. Hey, the Cookie Monster backpack Bobby Cassevah is sporting is actually pretty cool. And, yes, that is our All Star closer modeling the Tinkerbell backpack. Excellent sports all, really, and at least neither team played the Beiber card. I don’t know why all of the baseball hazing traditions amuse me so, but they do:

A Tigers rookie reliever sports the dreaded pink Hello Kitty backpack. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...(Seth)

Bobby "Cookie Monster" Cassevah and Jordan "Tinkerbell" Walden sport the rookie hazing backpacks on their way out of the bullpen. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu greet Victor Martinez before the game begins. I like baseball players to be fiercely competitive once the game begins, but I enjoy seeing player fraternization before the game. I like the idea that a lot of the guys are friends outside of the game across team lines. And from what I have seen before Angels games Torii, Bobby and Erick Aybar have friends on every single team in the majors. Besides, aren’t the truly competitive more apt to go all out when competing against friends than just random folks they know in passing?:

Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu greet the Tigers Victor Martinez before the game. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Like all MLB teams who played at home on Monday, the Angels had special extended pre-game festivities in honor of the 4th of July. I love spending the 4th at a baseball game. It’s a wonderful celebration of so many of the things about our country that are great. Last year, after the 4th of July Angels game, my husband told me that was the most fun he had ever had on the 4th of July. And that says a lot because he’s an Eagle Scout who spent a lot of great 4ths backpacking and kayaking in truly gorgeous parts of the country:

A military color guard before the National Anthem. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

A flag covers the outfield during the Star Spangled Banner. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

The "Spirit of Ronad Reagan" a Boeing C-17 flies over the scoreboard after the National Anthem. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Joel Pineiro took the mound for the Angels and pitched a great game – one run on five hits and three walks. Pineiro only had one strike out, but the sinkerball appeared to be sinking which was a good sign. This has been tricky for Pineiro this season, largely because of injuries I feel. So less hits, less walks, no homeruns and only one run. Pineiro is definitely getting back on a good track:

Joel Piniero on the mound. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Tigers pitcher Charlie Furbush takes the mound in his Major League debut. (And don’t think I didn’t giggle a little when I typed that. Sometimes I’m still 12.) Regardless of the score, Furbush showed promise. He was not easily flustered and he didn’t make very many mistakes…the Angels were just able to take advantage of each mistake he did make, a nice change for a team so often baffled by debuting pitchers:

Rookie Charlie Furbush takes the mound for the Tigers. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Torii Hunter “welcomes” Charlie Furbush to the big leagues, knocking a pitch into the bullpens for a one-run homerun. Vernon Wells also went yard in this game and the Angels offense was generally nice and present:

Torii Hunter on the verge of "welcoming" Charlie Furbush to the big leagues. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Goofy shenanigans in the Bullpen in the second inning. While I would love to know who said what that had Trevor Bell playing “hear no evil”, that will never happen. So I will have to content myself with this wonderfully silly photo:

Reliever Trevor Bell hears no evil as the bullpen gets up to some shenanigans...oh to be a fly on the wall. :) Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Peter Bourjos takes a deep lead off third as Erick Aybar takes a swing in the 3rd inning. This shot immediately preceded one of the odder occurrences of the game. The umps charged Furbush with a balk and awarded Bourjos home plate. Personally, I hate the balk call. I have no problem with pitchers being a little deceptive and think that the call is never enforced consistently among the umpires anyway. But, hey, we’ll take the run. Bourjos was on a mission this inning. He had just stolen second and third easily and was bound and determined to score even without the balk call:

Peter Bourjos takes a deep lead off third as Erick Aybar takes a swing. Bourjos would score on a balk on the next pitch. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Mark Trumbo moves to catch the throw down in the 4th as Jhonny Peralta moves back to first base. Peralta was a little tricky for Pineiro, accounting for two of the five hits as well as, on this hit, the Tigers only RBI.

Mark Trumbo moves to recieve the throw down as Jhonny Peralta moves back to the bag. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...(Seth)

Peter Bourjos makes another great catch. What, can’t you tell its Fleet Pete? ;) No, this isn’t the highlight reel game changing catch in the 6th. That photo looks even worse. But it was another good catch. I am crossing my fingers and hoping Bourjos heals quickly and thoroughly because he is something to watch in center and his bat has been great lately too. No, the reason the photo is blurry isn’t because Fleet Pete moves too fast…though I suppose that if I’d thought this through a little better I could have passed it off that way. ;) No, basically, getting good action shots from a distance with powerful zoom is a little like firing a rifle. You have to have excellent breathing control. In fact, again much like a rifle, it’s best if you can hold your breath, hold your body perfectly still and lightly press the shutter button. I am pretty good at this for most plays, but when it comes to amazing catches and also double plays, I get way too excited to hold my breath and keep still:

Peter Bourjos makes another dynamite catch in center...what, you can't tell it's him? ;) Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Mark Trumbo successfully steals second in the 6th, sliding under second baseman Ryan Raburn’s tag. Trumbo has joked in several interviews that he is “not as fast as the other kids” and he’s not…when you’re talking about Bourjos. But all jokes aside, Trumbo can move and he’s a smart base runner:

Mark Trumbo slides under second baseman Ryan Raburn's tag. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

Angels fans stand as reliever Michael Kohn goes for the final out of the game. See, Southern California fans can be passionate! We (or rather they, not my husband and certainly not I) may spend way too much time playing with stupid beach balls in the stands, but that doesn’t mean we don’t care. Kohn did a great job in a non-close situation, getting the last three outs while handily preventing the game from becoming a close situation. And, yes, the Kohn puns are pretty much boundless at the Big A. You Kohn do it! InKohnceivable! Koooooohhhhhhnnnnnnn! And so on. Seriously, fans have scores of them:

Michael Kohn prepares to strike out Alex Avila, the game's last out. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...

And, of course, what would 4th of July be without a heavy dose of simulated rockets’ red glare? If the Angels had kept the fireworks show in the same location as last season’s display, our seats would have been some of the best in the house. As it was we had the foul pole in the way, but the fireworks show was still pretty darned cool. This season the 4th wasn’t a get away day for the Angels so the team, the office staff and their families were able to come sit out on the infield in front of the Angels dugout and enjoy the show with the fans. It sounds silly, but it was cute to catch a glimpse of our tough players just being “dad”. I think it would have been disrespectful to take photos of that, especially for a blog. However, Seth took some great shots of the fireworks show itself and this was the best one:

Fourth of July fireworks over the scoreboard. Angels vs. Tigers, July 4, 2011. Photo by This is a very simple game...(Seth)

4 Comments

I can’t think of a better way to spend the 4th, than at a ballgame. Great pics as usual. I really like the one of Raburn and Trumbo. I remember Raburn arguing that call with the ump…Glad the Tigers fans represented with class, and that the new neighbors are comfortable in Cali. I hope Furbush works out for the Tigers, we need another starter in the worse way. Also, congrats on your June top 50!
–Mike
‘Minoring In Baseball’

Thanks Mike! Raburn did argue the call and it was close. Through my lens (and in the photo), Trumbo got his foot on the bag ahead of the tag. At least this game (other than the balk call maybe. Furbush halted his delivery early and reset, a rookie mistake, not an attemt to decieve, but whatever.) seemed relatively free of umpire gaffs, unlike the next game where Joe West and crew just had it in for Verlander and blatantly so in addition to blowing the call at first in our favor, or the Wednesday game where it was Chatwood’s turn in the barrel.

Thank you for the congrats! Congrats to you too on your own Top 50 spot!

You’ve been to so many games this season! Jealous ;)
Love the rookie backpacks. I’ve never seen that before. I’m with you, there’s something about a ballplayer sporting a Tinkerbell backpack that makes me giggle.
Catherine

Catherine – Yeah, I am a baseball game addict and try to feed the cravings with at least one game a homestand…or more when I can find cheap tickets. I think every team has a goofy backback or similar rookie hazing tradition. If you look closely when the relievers head for the bullen at the beginning of the game or leave it at the end, you’ll see them. A hot pick or bright yellow Miley Cyrus seemed to be the most popular choice last season. This season is Justin Beiber…though I’ve noticed a fair number of Dora the Eplorer and My Little Pony too. Stuff like that always cracks me up.

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